The Dynamiters

THE GELIGNITE GANG is a fast-paced British B-picture from prolific director Francis Searle, who made tons of these low budget quota quickies for a couple of decades from the 1940s to the 1960s. The fun title hints at the plot of a sometimes intense cops-and-robbers flick in which an American insurance investigator helps police to search for members of a criminal gang who use explosives to commit their robberies.

Unlike a lot of similar fare from Butcher's Films and the like, THE GELIGNITE GANG doesn't hang around and offers plenty of incident to keep viewers engaged. The imported American star, Wayne Morris, blusters his way through a cast of well-drawn characters, including a young thief whose run-ins with the gang lead to his eventual downfall. The film cleverly plays up a murder mystery angle to the story, keeping you guessing as to the identity of the chief villain, while at the same time keeping the action and suspense bubbling along. It's a B-picture throughout, but a good one.